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Subject:need advice on promotion (kind of long) From:Cathy Carr <ccarr -at- OVID -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 14 Oct 1997 12:49:43 -0400
To: techwr-l @ listserv.okstate.edu
cc:
Subject: need advice on promotion (kind of long)
>3. Any advice on handling the switch to a supervisory position, especially
in terms of my relations w/ my graphics co-workers? >My goal is to work w/
them, not "above" them, to help make the whole doc creation process run
more smoothly.
I would say the one thing to accept is that your relationship with them
*will* probably change, if you want to be a good manager of your projects.
You've probably realized this already, but firmly accepting and
anticipating the change will help make your transition smoother.
Hope this isn't too elementary a tip for this list. I learned this through
personal experience, just out of grad school when I became managing editor
of an office where I had formerly been just one of the gang. It's all very
well to be collegial and friendly, but when you're managing projects you
occasionally do have to tell someone to do something she doesn't want to
do, or that she needs to put more effort into something she doesn't like to
do. For example, it sounds as if you really may have to be firm with the
guy with the bad attitude to get him working up to speed. Otherwise you
won't be being fair to your other designer.
One thing that always annoys me about office dynamics is how difficult
employees tend to get away with murder, while the conscientious,
good-natured ones can end up taking on more and more to make sure things
run smoothly. This happens because it seems to be the path of least
resistance for everyone: for the good-natured employees and for their
managers. A new manager sometimes has the chance to really turn things
around!
I once worked with a difficult women: call her L.. L.'s work was great,
when she wasn't talking about her sex life or making endless calls to
manage her extensive social connections. She was very intelligent, and
could be incredibly snotty. We got a new manager, and one day L. was quite
rude to her at the service desk, in front of a customer--the kind of thing
she had been getting away with for years. The manager smiled and sailed on
through the interaction, then called L. back to her office, closed the
door, and said, "Don't you EVER speak to me like that in a public area
again." Amazing! L. herself told me about it with an air of bemused
wonder, and her attitude started perking up then and there.
Just my two cents.
Cathy Carr
Documentation Specialist
Ovid Technologies, Inc.
1/212/563-3006 or 1/800/950-2035 (ext. 323) http://www.ovid.com
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